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hold back |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.01 sec. |
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hold (someone, something, or an animal) back (from someone or something) to restrain someone, something, or an animal from getting at or getting to someone or something. The parents held the children back from the cake and ice cream until the hostess said she was ready. Please hold back your dog. hold back (on something) to withhold something; to give or take only a limited amount. Hold back on the gravy. I'm on a diet. That's enough. Hold back. Save some for the others. hold something back also hold back something to keep something secret They talk about everything and hold back nothing. hold back (from doing something) to avoid doing something Unable to hold back, we screamed with laughter. We were worried about viewers' reactions, so we held back from broadcasting the show. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| ? References in classic literature |
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After the encounter at Vyazma, where Kutuzov had been unable to hold back his troops in their anxiety to overwhelm and cut off the enemy and so on, the farther movement of the fleeing French, and of the Russians who pursued them, continued as far as Krasnoe without a battle. I can hold back no longer," and, as he spoke, the huge savage, struck full in the forehead with a rifle-ball, fell headlong to the ground. The oligarchs believed their ethics, in spite of the fact that biology and evolution gave them the lie; and, because of their faith, for three centuries they were able to hold back the mighty tide of human progress--a spectacle, profound, tremendous, puzzling to the metaphysical moralist, and one that to the materialist is the cause of many doubts and reconsiderations. |
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